The Bank of Issue in Poland (German : Emissionsbank in Polen, Polish : Bank Emisyjny w Polsce), also variously translated into English as the Bank of Issue, Issue Bank, Issuing Bank or Emitting Bank in Poland, was a bank of issue created in 1940 by Nazi Germany in the General Government within occupied Poland. [1]
After the German invasion of Poland, the Reichsbank decided not to introduce German currency there, as it did not want to increase the money supply. Instead, it introduced a system of Reichskreditkassen (credit offices of the German Reich ), which issued temporary bonds. This system, intended to be temporary from the beginning, was to be replaced by a new German-controlled currency and central banks in occupied territories. [2] In the meantime, various Polish banks and credit institutions were temporarily closed, while some of their assets were nationalized by the German government. Many people lost their savings. [2] [3] In particular, institutions with Jewish ownership were targeted, as well as Jewish customers. [2] At the same time, German banks began opening their offices in the newly available territories. [2] The plans for a complete takeover of the Polish financial system by the Germans were not finished before the end of the war. [2]
On 15 December 1940 Hans Frank, the governor of the General Government, passed a decree creating the Bank Emisyjny, which began operating in April. [1] [2] Bank Emisyjny was located in Kraków. [1] [4] It was the only institution in occupied Poland with the word Poland in its title.[ citation needed ]
It was headed by Polish economist, Feliks Młynarski. [2] His German supervisor, and representative of the Reichsbank, was Fritz Paersch. [2]
Bank Emisyjny de facto replaced the independent central bank of Poland, the Bank Polski SA, which managed to evacuate most of its assets, including gold, and part of the mint, before the invasion. [2] Officially, however, the Bank Polski still existed, as the Germans unsuccessfully tried to use it on the international scene to regain the assets evacuated and under the control of the Polish government in exile. [2]
The bank's main functions were: issuing currency, discounting promissory notes and cheques, issuing short-term loans, and taking deposits. [4]
The official exchange rate was set as 2 złoty = 1 reichsmark. [2] This system, favoring the German currency, by artificially undervaluing the Reichsmark, was one of the ways of boosting the German economy by pillaging that of the conquered country. [2] A black market exchange rate varied between three and four złotys to a reichsmark.
From 1940 until 1945 it helped finance the German economy. [1] The Bank, as well as other financial institutions in occupied Poland, were tasked with gathering as much capital as possible, to be invested in the German economy. [2] Approximately 11 billion złotys (5.5 billion reichsmarks) were transferred to the German army. [4] It printed new currency (unofficially named after the Bank headquarters "złoty krakowski" [4] - Złoty of Kraków - or after director Młynarski "the młynarki") with no backing [1] [4] which resulted in increasing inflation (market prices rose by three to six times and the exchange rate with the American dollar doubled over the war period). [2] [4]
In January 1945, the remaining assets and German personnel of the Bank were evacuated into Germany proper. [2] It was officially liquidated by the Polish communist government in 1950. [4]
Młynarski was in fact connected to the Polish Underground State which allowed widespread falsification of the new currency by the Polish underground. [5] His very nomination to the post of the director was made in consultation with and approved by the Polish government in exile. [5] The mint's printing presses were also used for falsification of other documents. [5] [6]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
The Polish złoty is the official currency and legal tender of Poland. It is subdivided into 100 grosz (gr). It is the most traded currency in Central and Eastern Europe and ranks 21st most-traded in the foreign exchange market.
The mark was a currency or unit of account in many states. It is named for the mark unit of weight. The word mark comes from a merging of three Germanic words, Latinised in 9th-century post-classical Latin as marca, marcha, marha or marcus. It was a measure of weight mainly for gold and silver, commonly used throughout Europe and often equivalent to 8 troy ounces (250 g). Considerable variations, however, occurred throughout the Middle Ages.
The Reichsmark was the currency of Germany from 1924 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, and in the American, British and French occupied zones of Germany, until 20 June 1948. The Reichsmark was then replaced by the Deutsche Mark, to become the currency of West Germany and then all of Germany after the 1990 reunification. The Reichsmark was used in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany until 23 June 1948, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reichsmark was subdivided into 100 Reichspfennig. The Mark is an ancient Germanic weight measure, traditionally a half pound, later used for several coins; Reich comes from the official name for the German state from 1871 to 1945, Deutsches Reich.
The Reichsbank was the central bank of the German Empire from 1876 until the end of Nazi Germany in 1945.
Władysław Dominik Grabski was a Polish National Democratic politician, economist and historian. He was the main author of the currency reform in the Second Polish Republic and served as Prime Minister of Poland in 1920 and from 1923 to 1925. He was the brother of Stanisław Grabski and Zofia Kirkor-Kiedroniowa.
The Narodowy Bank Polski, often abbreviated to NBP, is the central bank of Poland, founded in 1945. It controls the issuing of Poland's currency, the Polish złoty. The bank is headquartered in Warsaw, and has branches in 16 major Polish cities. The NBP represents Poland in the European System of Central Banks, an EU organization. The bank doesn't translate its name to English and uses its Polish name in all English communications.
Vistula Land, also known as Vistula Country, was the name applied to the lands of Congress Poland from 1867, following the defeats of the November Uprising (1830–1831) and January Uprising (1863–1864) as it was increasingly stripped of autonomy and incorporated into Imperial Russia. It also continued to be formally known as the Kingdom of Poland until the fall of the Russian Empire.
The marka was the currency of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Republic of Poland between 1917 and 1924. It was subdivided into 100 Fenigów, like its German original after which it was modelled.
The 10 Polish Złotych note is the lowest value złoty banknote and has been used since the redenomination of the złoty in 1995. The note is used as the sole currency in Poland, a country with a population of about 38 million.
The 20 Polish złotych note is a denomination of the Polish złoty.
The Vistula Railway was a railroad system, opened on August 17, 1877. It ran from northwest to southeast, through the territory of the former Congress Poland, known after the November Uprising as Privislinsky Krai. It was, upon construction, the longest railroad in the Congress Poland.
The German–Polish customs war was a political and economic conflict between the Second Polish Republic and the Weimar Republic, which began in June 1925 and ended officially in March 1934. The conflict began when Poland's status expired as one of the Entente's most favoured nations in trade with Germany. Berlin then decided to raise customs duty, which primarily affected the Polish coal industry, Poland's main export to Germany. In return, Warsaw also raised duty on German goods. Germany's purpose in the war was to cause a breakdown of Poland's economy and gain political concessions. They included revanchist claims to Polish territories.
Guardians of the Laws or Guard of Laws was a short-lived supreme executive governing body of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth established by the Constitution of May 3, 1791. It was abolished, together with other reforms of the Constitution, after the Polish defeat in the summer of Polish–Russian War of 1792.
Feliks Młynarski was a Polish banker, philosopher and economist.
Młynarki was the popular name for the currency notes of the General Government during World War II that were issued by the German-controlled Bank of Issue in Poland. They were named after the president of the bank, Feliks Młynarski.
Operation Góral was an action carried out by the Polish anti-Nazi resistance organization Home Army, which involved a heist of over a million US dollars' worth of currency being transported by Nazi German authorities on 12 August 1943. It was carried out in the center of Warsaw by a unit of Kedyw, "Motor", which seized a transport car carrying the money. It was one of the best organized actions of the Polish underground during the German occupation, and it took only two minutes.
The automobile industry in Poland makes up a sizeable part of the Polish economy, accounting for about 11% of Poland's industrial production. Poland is one of the largest producer of light vehicles in Central and Eastern Europe. As of 2013 Poland was the 23rd largest automaker in the world.
The General Government was the German zone of occupation in Poland after the invasion by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, at the start of World War II. The General Government represented the middle portion of occupied Poland, with originally the West being under German control and the East under Soviet control. The basis for this split was to eliminate the Polish state and to turn all Polish nationals as stateless subjects, disregarding international law.
The Bank of Danzig was the central bank of the Free City of Danzig, established in 1924 and liquidated in the aftermath of the Danzig crisis in 1939.
Bank Polski SA, full name Bank Polski Spółka Akcyjna, sometimes referred to as the "Second Bank of Poland" to distinguish it from its 19th-century namesake, was the central bank of the Second Polish Republic. It was founded in 1924 and operated until the invasion of Poland in 1939, after which it relocated to London together with the Polish Government in Exile. In liberated Poland, it was replaced in 1945 by the National Bank of Poland, and was eventually liquidated in 1952.
